Weight, self-esteem, ethnicity, and depressive symptomatology during pregnancy among inner-city women.

The relationship of weight and self-esteem to depressive symptomatology was examined among 36 African American and 96 European American pregnant inner-city women. Lower self-esteem and higher deviations from medically ideal weight predicted increased dysphoria during the 3rd trimester for European American women, but only lower self-esteem predicted increased dysphoria for African American women. These results support the hypothesis that African Americans are less likely than European Americans to experience negative psychological repercussions of greater weight. Consistent with findings among nonpregnant middle-class samples, these results extend the association between heavier weight and increased risk for psychological distress to pregnant women of European American descent. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Partners' stress underestimations lead to women's distress: A study of pregnant inner-city women.

The authors examined how men's underestimation of the stress that their pregnant female partners reported influenced women's psychological distress and their sense that they were not supported. Participants included 68 pregnant inner-city women and their partners, among whom African Americans and European Americans were represented. Women who reported a greater number of stressful life events had increased depression if their partners did not report them as encountering these events. However, if their partners reported them as encountering a high number of stressful events, the otherwise negative impact of stress was buffered. Partners' stress report had no appreciable effect when women reported a low number of stressful events. This partner underestimation effect was independent of the influence of women's report of social support. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depression prevalence and incidence among inner-city pregnant and postpartum women.

A sample of 192 financially impoverished, inner-city women was assessed for clinical depression twice during pregnancy and once postpartum. At the first and second antepartum interviews, respectively, 27.6% and 24.5% of the women were depressed, controlling for pregnancy-related somatic symptoms. Postpartum depression was found among 23.4% of women. These rates are about double those found for middle-class samples. Particularly heightened risk for antepartum depression was found among single women who did not have a cohabiting partner. African American and European American women did not differ in rates of depression. Antepartum depression was a weak but significant risk factor for postpartum depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Factors predicting depression among Korean-American women in New York

A survey was administered to 262 women aged 35-55 years who had migrated to the U.S. within the last 10 years. The survey included measures of depression, acculturative stress, social support, self-esteem, education, income, age, and length of residence in the U.S. Hierarchical regression analyses in which demographic variables were introduced first indicated that age, education, and income were all significant predictors of depression, with age positively related to depression and education and income negatively related to depression. When acculturative stress, social support, and self-esteem were introduced on subsequent steps, only self-esteem explained significant additional variability in depression. Implications for prevention and treatment programs are discussed.     

Chronic stress burden, discrimination, and subclinical carotid artery disease in African American and Caucasian women.

This study examined the association between a composite index of stress that included measures of life events, ongoing stress, discrimination, and economic hardship and subclinical carotid disease among 109 African American and 225 Caucasian premenopausal women. African Americans reported more chronic stress and had higher carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) as compared with Caucasians. Among African Americans only, the composite stress index and unfair treatment were associated with higher IMT. These effects were partially mediated by biological risk factors. African Americans who reported experiencing racial discrimination had marginally more carotid plaque than did those who did not report experiencing racial discrimination. The results suggest that African Americans may be particularly vulnerable to the burden of chronic stress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Factor structure of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index among African American college students.

This study examined the factor structure of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI) among African American college students. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated the 3-factor solution commonly found among other populations did not fit the data for African Americans. Although an exploratory factor analysis indicated the presence of a Mental Incapacitation factor, the Physical Concerns factor was divided into unsteady and cardiovascular concerns. Items typically comprising the Social factor were reflective of emotional controllability among African Americans. The ASI was also moderately correlated with measures of anxiety and depression providing only weak evidence of convergent and discriminate validity of the ASI for African Americans. Although support for the multidimensional nature of AS was found, the factor composition differs for African Americans. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social problem-solving abilities, social support, and adjustment among family caregivers of individuals with a stroke.

ABSTRACT. Objective: To investigate the unique contributions of social problem solving abilities and social support in the prediction of aspects of caregiver adjustment. Study Design: Correlational procedures were used to determine the unique contributions of social problem-solving abilities and social support in the prediction of caregiver depression, health, and life satisfaction. Mediating factors were examined with correlational and regression analyses. Participants: Caregivers of individuals who had a stroke (20 African Americans and 20 Caucasians). Main Outcome Measures: The general health scale from the Short-Form Health Survey and measures of life satisfaction and depression. Results: Social support was the best predictor of caregiver life satisfaction. Perceived control over emotions when solving problems was the best predictor of caregiver depressive behavior and health. Social problem-solving abilities were associated with caregiver depressive behavior and health; social support did not mediate these relationships. Conclusions: Problem-solving interventions may be most appropriate for the treatment and prevention of caregiver depression and health problems. Social support programs may be indicated for caregiver life satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Physical, psychological, and societal correlates of bulimic symptomatology among African American college women.

Although eating disorders have been the focus of considerable research, African American women generally have been overlooked, despite recent investigations indicating they also are at risk. In this study, the authors examined physical, psychological, and societal correlates of bulimic symptomatology in African American college women. Regression analysis revealed that body mass, body dissatisfaction, and low self-esteem were significantly related to bulimic symptomatology, accounting for 29% of the variance. Internalization of U.S. societal beliefs about attractiveness, level of identification with White culture, and level of depression, however, were not significant predictors of bulimic symptoms in the regression equation. The findings are discussed in the context of sociocultural approaches to understanding eating disorders. Implications for counseling interventions as well as directions for future research are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depressive symptoms, stress, and weight concerns among African American and European American low-income female smokers.

The relationships between perceived stress, depressive symptoms, concern about weight gain and smoking dependence were examined among 83 European American and 175 African American female smokers bringing children to pediatric clinics serving a low-income population. Among African American women, but not European American women, greater stress and more depressive symptoms predicted greater smoking dependence, and less concern about weight gain predicted greater smoking dependence. Multivariate analyses confirmed the bivariate relationships among stress, depressive symptoms, and smoking dependence among African American women but reduced the relationship between weight concern and smoking dependence. The stronger relationships among stress, depressive symptoms, and smoking dependence among African American women may be indicative of smoking patterns more associated with affect regulation than are the smoking patterns of European American women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Discrimination and unfair treatment: Relationship to cardiovascular reactivity among African American and European American women.

This study examined the relationship of cardiovascular reactivity to both interpersonal mistreatment and discrimination in a community-based sample of African American and European American women (N?=?363) in midlife. Subtle mistreatment related positively to diastolic blood pressure (DBP) reactivity for African American participants but not their European American counterparts. Moreover, among the African American participants, those who attributed mistreatment to racial discrimination exhibited greater average DBP reactivity. In particular, these women demonstrated greater DBP reactivity to the speech task, which bore similarities to an encounter with racial prejudice but not to a nonsocial mirror tracing task. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that racial discrimination is a chronic stressor that can negatively impact the cardiovascular health of African Americans through pathogenic processes associated with physiologic reactivity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental attachment, self-esteem, and antisocial behaviors among African American, European American, and Mexican American adolescents.

This study examined the relation of mother and father attachment to self-esteem and self-reported involvement in antisocial behaviors among African American (n=488), European American (n=661), and Mexican American (n=434) high school students. The attachment dimensions of anxiety and avoidance were examined using self-report scales that were developed and validated with participants in the study. Findings indicated that adolescents from the 3 ethnic/racial groups did not differ greatly in their reported attachment to father and mother. Consistent with theoretical formulations, securely attached adolescents from the 3 ethnic groups had a more positive sense of self-esteem and reported less involvement in antisocial behaviors than their less securely attached peers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Can racial differences in cognitive test performance be reduced by presenting problems in a social context?

It is well documented that African Americans tend to score lower on cognitive ability tests than White Americans. The cause of this performance difference is still being hotly debated and actively researched. Recently, J. E. Helms (1992) argued that cognitive ability tests fail to adequately assess African American intelligence because they do not account for the emphasis placed on social relations and the effect of social context on reasoning in the African American culture. To evaluate this argument, racial subgroup performance differences on Wason conditional reasoning items presented in the standard abstract form and in a social relationship form were examined. Contrary to Helms's argument, results indicate that presenting Wason conditional reasoning items in a social context did not reduce the difference between African American and White American Performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role of infant-related stressors in postpartum depression.

This study examined infant-related stressors as well as life event stress and social support as predictors of postpartum depression. A sample of 25 depressed and 24 nondepressed, married, middle-class primiparous women was selected according to Research Diagnostic Criteria at between 6 and 8 weeks postpartum. These subjects were assessed on measures of life event stress, neonatal risk status, infant temperament, and social support. Contrary to expectation, life event stress and social support were not related to postpartum depression. Infant-related stressors (medical complications and maternal perceptions of infant temperament) discriminated between the two groups and accounted for roughly 17% of the variance in severity of depression. These data underscore the importance of infant-related stressors in postpartum depression and may have clinical implications for the developing mother–infant relationship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The influence of social support and active coping on depression among African Americans and Latinos with disabilities.

Examined relationships among depression, active coping, and social support in a sample of 109 African Americans and 57 Latinos with a variety of disabling conditions, including physical, chronic illness, neurological, sensory, emotional, substance abuse, and cognitive disabilities. Ss' ages ranged from 18 to over 61 yrs old. Measures included a short version of the Beck Depression Inventory, the Personal Resources Questionnaire and the condensed version of the Behavioral Attributes of Psychosocial Competence Scale. Findings indicate that active coping, satisfaction with social support, and type of disability were significant predictors of depression for African Americans, whereas active coping, perception of severity of disability, and social support were significant predictors of depression for Latinos. These findings underscore the importance of testing separate models for African Americans and Latinos. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Political orientation and modern versus aversive racism: Tests of Dovidio and Gaertner's (1998) integrated model.

According to J. F. Dovidio and S. L. Gaertner's (1998) integrated model of racism, politically liberal European Americans tend to express racism differently than conservative European Americans, with liberals demonstrating aversive racism and conservatives, symbolic or modern racism. In support of the model, in Experiment 1 liberals showed bias in favor of a twice-prosecuted African American relative to a European American in their judgment of double jeopardy, whereas conservatives did the reverse. Experiment 2 replicated these effects while eliminating a confound in the design of Experiment 1. Experiment 3 found evidence for the intrapsychic conflict hypothesized to underlie aversive racism. Specifically, only liberals displayed greater physiological arousal to the touch of an African American versus a European American experimenter. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Explaining Disproportionately High Rates of Adverse Birth Outcomes Among African Americans: The Impact of Stress, Racism, and Related Factors in Pregnancy.

Compared with European Americans, African American infants experience disproportionately high rates of low birth weight and preterm delivery and are more than twice as likely to die during their 1st year of life. The authors examine 5 explanations for these differences in rates of adverse birth outcomes: (a) ethnic differences in health behaviors and socioeconomic status; (b) higher levels of stress in African American women; (c) greater susceptibility to stress in African Americans; (d) the impact of racism acting either as a contributor to stress or as a factor that exacerbates stress effects; and (e) ethnic differences in stress-related neuroendocrine, vascular, and immunological processes. The review of literature indicates that each explanation has some merit, although none is sufficient to explain ethnic disparities in adverse birth outcomes. There is a lack of studies examining the impact of such factors jointly and interactively. Recommendations and cautions for future research are offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Family Almost Perfect Scale: Development, psychometric properties, and comparing Asian and European Americans.

This article describes two studies related to the development and psychometric evaluation of the Family Almost Perfect Scale (FAPS), which measures the perceived level of perfectionistic standards and evaluation from one's family. In Study 1 (N = 283), exploratory factor analysis was used to determine the FAPS scale items. In Study 2, the FAPS was cross-validated through confirmatory factor analyses with an Asian/Asian American sample (N = 252) and a European American sample (N = 386). These two samples were compared on study variables and Asians/Asian Americans reported modestly higher personal and family discrepancy and lower self-esteem. Participants were also grouped into different perceived perfectionistic family types. Those that perceived having maladaptively perfectionistic families reported greater depression and lower self-esteem. Implications for counseling and future directions for research are also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)